While BT, Cisco and Megabeam will be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of public wireless Lans, others will not be so happy.
As expected, E-commerce minister Stephen Timms gave the go-ahead for commercial exploitation of the 2.4GHz band, and it is likely to have a massive impact on the future of UK mobile communications.
Before recommendations were sent for ministerial approval, there was a public consultation period when anyone could comment on the proposals. Not surprisingly, this offer was taken up by some of those most likely to be affected.
Major players such as BT, Thus, Vodafone, Megabeam, and British Airways all responded with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Predictably, Vodafone did not think much of the proposals.
"2.4GHz is arguably congested already and roll-out of Radio Lans outdoors will produce undue interference," stated its response. "Consequently, Vodafone recommends that the commercial use of licence-exempt spectrum be restricted to indoor coverage."
Indoor coverage means airport lounges and coffee shops, so it would have less impact - although not by a great deal - than if outdoor use is also permitted.
As it turns out, the freeing up of the band does include outdoor use, as the RA confirmed to us last week, which must be a bitter pill for Vodafone to swallow.
If 802.11b roaming difficulties are ironed out, the fact that operators can install networks anywhere seriously threatens 3G profit margins.
BT has stated that it will cost no more than £10m to roll-out the infrastructure needed for its hotspot announcement, and John Cassidy of Generic Software, believes he knows why. "All BT has to do is deploy some of the Cisco wireless kit on top of all the phone boxes and communication points it has," he said in a letter to Network News. "Millions of micro cells already in existence at points of interest where consumers of this service will need them."
BT Group is well aware of the potential of the technology. Now that mm02 has been spun off, BT Group is desperate to get back into last-mile wireless access. Public access wireless Lans provide the perfect platform.
"We believe it is an essential element of the roadmap to a truly 'Broadband Britain'," said its response. "For each year that public WLan services are prohibited, it costs the economy in excess of £500m in lost consumer benefits."
BT's statement also heaped pressure on the timing of the decision to free the band. "BT therefore urges the RA to introduce amending legislation governing both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz licence-exempt bands by June 2002 at the latest."
That wish has come true for BT - and the telecoms giant had initially claimed that June would see the first 20 hotspots across the country.
Only when that is achieved will we see the nature of any security and interference issues that arise.
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article